'Downton Abbey' actor Michael Fox has confessed he almost fainted at the sight of Hugh Bonneville vomiting fake blood

Michael – who plays footman Andrew Parker in the much-loved period drama - has confessed he felt a bit 'faint' at the sight of fake blood spurting out of Bonneville's character Robert Crawley's mouth while shooting last night's (18.10.15) episode.

He said: 'When you see the blood, blood drains out of your face. Well, I do. I feel quite faint when I see that sort of thing, so I'm in the background thinking, "Oh my God" [pretends to be sick], but no, I couldn't do that!'

Viewers took to social media to compare the scenes – in which the Earl of Grantham suffered a burst ulcer and vomited blood all over the table during a dinner party – to something out of a horror movie and even described it as a 'bloodbath'.

And Michael has confessed that it was shocking for the cast to see even though they knew it was coming.

He told ITV's This Morning: 'Filming it was pretty graphic. Hugh was so good at it because we only had one take because they couldn't reset the tables and his shirt. The distance it [the blood] travelled was slightly further than Elizabeth [McGovern, Lady Mary Crawley] was expecting. We had to keep going.'